If you’ve ever wondered how Heath Ledger’s Joker came by that tortured visage of his, the newly refurbished Tate Britain is the place to go. The venerable gallery has launched three short YouTube films linking film and art. This one sees Christopher Nolan pull the thread from the Joker back to his inspiration, Francis Bacon, a mainstay at the Pimlico picture palace. Click below to hear Nolan’s thoughts on the great artist and his influence on Heath Ledger and Dark Knight makeup artist John Caglione’s work.

Interestingly, the director also takes the chance to reiterate his fidelity to celluloid, drawing parallels between the analogue image and the handmade quality of Bacon’s work. “It’s inherently a little sterile”, Nolan says of the digital image. “There’s a little bit more of a barrier between what you’re trying to do and reaching an audience”.

L: fiercehairdo
Nola seems to mis-understand the digital/analogue debate to me. Digital enables much more hand made feel to it, while analogue photography restricts the hand made feel to the limitations of the mechanical camera. Digital enables the painterly and hand made intervention in the photographic image. That's digitals big advantage. It has brought the possibilities of painting into the photographic image. Can't help but feel he sounds like a bit of a luddite on this debate.
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